Oh, Christmas Tree
by whatthenesmith
Summary: Charlie gets confused on what a "Christmas tree" really is when he tries to surprise Matteusz with a tree. So Matteusz has to help him out but in the end, everything works out. And they have a pretty good looking Christmas tree.


When Matteusz entered the living room, he was taken aback.

"I…," he tried to find exactly what words to say. "I was _not_ expecting this." That was it. That was it exactly. He was most definitely not expecting this when Charlie had texted him that he had a surprise waiting for him when Matteusz came home.

Charlie was stood in the living room, a little sapling in the corner of the room. There was an expectant grin on Charlie's face and Matteusz couldn't help but briefly think about how cute this was. Since last week, when November had slowly crept into December, Charlie had kept asking and asking about Christmas, as he hadn't a clue as to what most advertisers and people were talking about. It was one of the few times that Matteusz was truly reminded that his boyfriend was an alien, a proper out-of-this-world alien.

"You're surprised then?" Charlie asked, looking down at the little sapling.

"Yes, I am surprised," Matteusz confirmed, "But is that supposed to be a Christmas tree?"

"Of course," Charlie nodded, "April told me that it's customary to have a tree on Christmas and then I asked Tanya if you celebrate Christmas, which she said yes, and also said that if I was getting a tree, she'd take me to get ornaments and things at the store, which she did, with the help of her brothers."

Charlie was talking a little faster than usual, something he did when he was especially excited about something. Matteusz glanced around the room again and realized that, next to the sapling, there was indeed a box full of ornaments and lights. And Matteusz felt the laughter bubble up inside him and he couldn't help it. Charlie gave him a quizzical look, clearly unsure why Matteusz was laughing.

"Oh Charlie, you misunderstand," Matteusz said as soon as his laughter had subsided. Charlie's smile falters, a look of slight confusion contorting his face.

"Have I?" he mumbled, glancing at the sapling and the box of decorations. "But this is what April and Tanya advised me to get."

Suddenly, there was a look of almost panic on Charlie's face.

"You don't celebrate Christmas," Charlie gasped. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"No, no I do, Charlie," Matteusz said quickly, "I do, I'm meaning the tree."

"What's wrong with the tree?" Charlie seemed a little more relieved.

"It's a deciduous sapling. Christmas trees are Evergreen trees that are a little more mature," Matteusz explained. The look on Charlie's face was priceless. He clearly and immediately understood his mistake, a bright pink flush creeping up into his cheeks. Matteusz couldn't blame Charlie for his mistake though. A tree was a tree, afterall.

"I'm sorry," Charlie rubbed at the back of his head, about to say more but Matteusz interrupted him.

"It's alright, Charlie, it is just a tree. We will plant the sapling in the back garden and then we will go get a Christmas tree together," Matteusz said.

This seemed to cheer Charlie up and so their evening began with planting the little sapling in the back garden (after borrowing a shovel from a reluctant Ram, with the promise they'd give it back as soon as they were finished with it). They returned the shovel to Ram on their way to a Christmas tree lot that was within walking distance. Together, they picked out a tree, although Matteusz let Charlie take the lead on picking it out because he was very excited. Matteusz simply agreed to the tree that Charlie decided upon. Together, they carried the tree home. Surprisingly, the house was still empty and Charlie off-handedly mentioned that Miss Quill was at the school late tonight, being forced to grade papers she didn't really have any interest in grading. That was a slight relief to Matteusz, even if he didn't really have anything against Miss Quill.

Once the tree was up, Matteusz put on the radio, tuning it so that a quiet murmur of Christmas songs floated around the room. Charlie was smiling again and it warmed Matteusz to his very core. They began to decorate the tree. Charlie was very interested in learning about why this and that went on the tree, expecting a deeper meaning to the little trinkets that they were hanging on the branches. Matteusz was honest, admitting that he was pretty sure the only reason the trinkets went on the tree was because they looked pretty. Chatting amicably, or in a comfortable silence, they finished decorating. There were felt mice, red and blue baubles, a handful of other ornaments, and multicolored lights. Charlie and Matteusz stood back, Charlie glancing at Matteusz.

"Can I plug it in then? To light up the lights?" he asked.

"It is your house, you needn't ask me," Matteusz replied, even though he was touched that Charlie had in fact asked. Charlie beamed and darted forward, plugging in the lights and then returned to his spot next to Matteusz.

The tree seemed to sparkle and glow in the growing twilight that spilled into the living room. It looked happy, comforting, as if it were plucked right from Matteusz's own childhood. Matteusz wrapped an arm around Charlie, who wrapped an arm around Matteusz in return.

"I wasn't expecting this," Charlie told him. And Matteusz couldn't help but laugh a little. It was going to be a wonderful holiday season.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry if it's a little out of character or something, it's been a little bit since I've watched Class & this is technically my first time finishing a Class fic. So I hope it's ok. This fic is dedicated to .com for Classmate 2017 Secret Santa. Happy Holidays to them and to anyone else kind enough to read this fic!


End file.
